News Central

New Headquarters for Bell & Ross

A large company needs a workspace that reflects its image and measures up to its ambitions. After 13 years operating at rue Saint-Honoré, Bell & Ross is taking up a new residence, in the 16th district of Paris at 8 rue Copernic.

A town house of more than 1,000 m2 is now home to all of the brand's departments, while still retaining its manufacturing operations in Switzerland.

Indicative of the company's maturation, Bell & Ross is continuing to pursue its international development strategy and assert its confidence in the future.

A location full of character

Completed in 1888, the town house of Count Montalvo, its first owner, offers all the features of a private residence. The famous, prolific Ecuadorian essayist, Juan Montalvo, a wellknown liberal and democrat, was renowned throughout Europe and the United States for his fierce opposition to dictatorship. Having first been exiled to Colombia, he later set up home at 8 rue Copernic where, as he himself would say, he was able to write and find inspiration in its peaceful environment.

A showcase reflecting the image of Bell & Ross

From the street, the Haussmann façade, adorned with a balcony, cornices and mouldings, sets the tone for this cut-stone construction.

Once through the doorway, visitors are struck by the generous proportions of the entrance hall, with its vaulted ceilings overhanging a white-stone floor, set off by black cabochons. Further ahead stands a monumental staircase that captures the visitor's attention, inviting one to explore it further.

Very much in line with the Bell & Ross principles, the functionality of the facilities is perfectly integrated into this classical atmosphere: the elevator is a glass capsule that rises up inside the middle of the staircase; at the bottom of a recess sits as a sculpture a perfect-chrome propeller, and throughout the townhouse, aviation photos are intermixed into the decor, as if proclaiming the brand's very DNA.

On each floor, ultra-modern facilities are harmoniously intertwined with the cut stone, mouldings, woodwork and Versailles parquet flooring. As a result, the workspaces house modernday appointments and comfort, offering air conditioning, an I.T. network, and a security system, and meet the latest environmental standards.

Constructed in a former residence, the workspaces are very much on a human scale, favouring comprehensive, quality exchanges among employees.

A functional space

Workspaces are distributed throughout the building's six floors including the basement, and offer a pleasant well-lit, functional and adaptable working environment. In order to promote efficiency, complementary business functions are grouped together on each floor:

- The Creative Studio, where Bruno Belamich, brand designer and co-founder, oversees the creation of new watch models and supervises the brand's visual communication.

- The Communications Department that press relations and advertising as well as the internet, with a unit dedicated to the Bell & Ross website and its e-Boutique.

- The Sales Department and Logistics Department, responsible for distribution and overseeing the shipping of watches to locations throughout the world.

- The Watchmaking Workshop, in charge of the after-sales service for Europe and watch quality control.

- General Management, Accounting, Legal and Administrative Departments.

- The Showroom, this intimate neoclassical-style setting is home to the Bell & Ross watch collections that are presented in showcases with minimalist elegance.

A new opportunity to take flight

By installing its new headquarters in a prestigious location where elegance meets functionality, Bell & Ross has chosen environment that resembles the watch brand: both steeped in history and resolutely groundbreaking.

Just like its Chauxde-Fonds Swiss manufacturing site, whose production facility was transformed to adapt to its new needs, Bell & Ross has brought its departments together in one location and adapted the building to suit both its past growth and future ambitions.

As Carlos Rosillo, Chairman and Co-Founder of Bell & Ross, correctly points out: "The new Bell & Ross headquarters represents the perfect counterpart to the Bell & Ross manufacturing unit in Switzerland. Knowledge and know-how form two wings of the same body, which now aspires to take flight."

The rue Copernic address that takes its name from the famous astronomer who spent his life with his head in the stars in and of itself would seem to be something of a nod from destiny when we consider the Bell & Ross motto: "Because he wants to reach for the stars and explore the ocean depths, because he lives out his passions to the fullest, man has always measured himself against time... to turn a few seconds into a moment of eternity."